Trouble in Elysium
by Theodore is Rice
Summary: When Nico wants to shadow-travel, Will overreacts, claiming that Nico's not healthy enough. Nico yells at Will, and a fight breaks out. Sequel to Long Shot, written with bluelove22.


Falter: Hey! Here's the sequel to Long Shot. We don't own PJO, HoO, or anything cannon. We also don't any songs or references in this fic.

bluelove22: The song used is Give Me a Sign (acoustic) by Breaking Benjamin. Anyway, enjoy~

Trouble in Elysium

One would think after getting thrown into the freezing cold lake at Camp Half-blood as per tradition, taking care of each other after getting sick from said incident, and spending a few weeks together that ended up literally being the best weeks of either of their lives, that things would continue looking bright for the young couple. Nico and Will, despite being almost complete opposites, suited one another perfectly. A match made by Aphrodite herself, her children called it. And many other campers agreed with this.

However, every couple had their troubles. And by troubles, it meant something more along the lines of this...

The day had started out just as most of the others had. Leo, having returned two weeks prior on his bronze dragon with his girlfriend Calypso, was making his silly jokes despite it being only eight in the morning. Nico couldn't pay attention to anything being said as he wasn't much of a morning person, but he tried to be polite and at least smile at the son of Hephaestus' humor. But it wasn't really Leo that was making the sleepy demigod smile.

Will was cracking silly jokes right alongside the hyper little fire-user. Every time he did, Leo would groan comically, saying that the other needed help - a lot of help - with his jokes. Until Nico shot him a look that told him everything Will said was perfect, that is. Then it was all Leo could do but make another joke in hopes to distract the protective son of Hades from sending a skeleton after him. Dang, that kid was scary. To sum it up, Leo didn't say anything further about Will's comedic skills.

After Leo had walked away with Calypso, Nico was walking to his cabin to get some sleep. Will, as usual, was following him and giving him tips about how morning activity was good for his health.

"Naps are beneficial too, I suppose." Will added on as they stepped into the Hades Cabin.

Nico just made a noise that told Will he had heard but was too tired to care. Within seconds the dark-haired demigod had buried himself back under the blankets and was halfway on his way back to sleep before Will slipped in next to him.

Will wore a small smile as he watched the younger demigod sleep. He didn't even think that it would look weird that the two were sleeping in the same bed, but then again, Will didn't notice the 'little things' like that. He soon felt himself growing sleepy and taking comfort in the warmth of the son of Hades' body. He thought that was funny that Nico would be warm, but then he snuggled up against Nico and he was asleep.

A knock at the door startled them awake, the younger of the two grabbing his sword from where it rested against the headboard of his bed and rolling onto the floor into a battle position in mere seconds. His hair was sloppy and in his face, but he didn't mind.

"Nico," Will said with a lopsided smile, "it's just someone at the door."

Looking at the ground sheepishly, Nico his sword back down before going to greet whomever had come to see him. He assumed it would be Jason, since he visited so often. There was also a chance it was one of Will's siblings who was looking for the head healer (since he was in his cabin on a regular basis). He did not expect to see Percy though, sea-green eyes bright as he took in the still sleepy Nico and a bushy-tailed Will Solace sitting up on his bed.

"Hey, Neeks! I see my little bro's day has been sunshine and rainbows so far."

"Percy," Nico greeted. "Don't ever say that again or I will cut your head off and feed it to Cerberus. Okay?"

Percy gulped. Then he laughed nervously. "Point taken."

Nico nodded. "Good. Now, why are you here at this ungodly hour?"

"Um, it's almost noon," Percy deadpanned.

"Precisely."

"Come on, Nico. I came to ask you a favor, good knight!"

Nico's poker face was perfect. "Never. Call. Me. A. Knight."

Percy laughed and clapped Nico on the shoulder. "But seriously, I want to ask you something."

Nico replied, "Shoot."

"Will you shadow travel me to Walmart?" He asked.

"Um, sure, I guess, but what for?" Nico questioned. Will listened with a pouty look on his face, but he was ignored by both sons of the Big Three.

"Grover and I need some stuff for enchiladas. I promised him we could hang out sometime and make them; today is as good a day as any. And," Percy paused dramatically, "I RAN OUT OF BLUE FOOD COLORING!"

Nico faked looking shocked. "Oh, no! Don't go on a rampage." He paused, then added, "That last part was serious."

Percy looked at him, still ignoring Will. "So, will you do it?"

Nico shrugged. "Sure."

Will jumped up, tired of being ignored. "Hey! You can't shadow-travel. I don't want you to get hurt, Nico."

Irritated, Nico glared at him. He was in sort of a bad mood since he'd been woken up and he didn't feel like listening to another lecture about his health. "I won't get hurt!"

Will looked a little disheartened, but he kept at it.

"You haven't tried using your powers to shadow-travel since the war," the blonde reminded. "For all we know you could start disappearing at any moment. I can't lose you, Death Boy. Not to mention who knows what would happen to Percy if it was while you were in the shadows?"

"I thought you said you couldn't sense any darkness in me other than the usual aura I give off."

"That's true, but-"

"Then what's the problem?" Nico snapped. Okay, he was really irritated. He also had no idea what he should do.

Will didn't know how to react about the sudden outburst. Nico had never really yelled at him like that, or at all, and Will hadn't ever raised his voice at Nico. Unless, of course, they had to, to hear each other over any noise that might have otherwise blocked hearing.

Eyes narrowing, the son of Apollo was getting just as worked up as his boyfriend. "I don't want you to get hurt, Nico!" He almost yelled, but kept his volume controlled all the same. He didn't like how Nico and Percy acted around each other. They had such an easy flow, but Will and Nico were awkward. Sure, they had both loved the last few weeks, but Nico and Percy had something that Nico and Will did not. He felt a pang in his heart. What was he thinking? He wasn't allowed to get jealous. Not now. He felt like an idiot when he saw the testy expression on Nico's face.

"Oh, yeah? Well, I can do this. I don't need a babysitter to be at my side every moment, Solace," he sneered. "I've been through Tartarus and back, for Favonius' sake, so if you think I can't handle going to a grocery store, then I don't think you know my abilities that well. I'm sick of you always fretting over me!"

Will's face heated up. "Well, have you ever thought about asking me about it? I've put up with your crap about shadow-traveling, but I thought you were just complaining for the sake of it. So you, you, Mister di Angelo, have no right to talk to me like that, when it was your fault in the first place!"

"How dare you say that to me?" Nico said in angry disbelief. "I've been constantly seeing you follow me around like a lost puppy, and I can't seem to shake you. You give talk about being social, but I think I already am. I can't even get privacy. Maybe you shouldn't stick your sunburned nose into places that you shouldn't," yelled Nico. He had taken a defensive stance without knowing it.

Percy stood in the doorway. To him, it looked like Will was jealous. He ran off to get Jason and Nico sighed in defeat. "He probably went to get Jason, didn't he?"

Will looked at Nico and nodded. "Yeah..."

Nico scowled again. "That still doesn't change that you are always in my way!" He got in Will's face. "You can't just baby me all the time!"

Will's face flushed. "Well, I am trying to protect you, you vitamin D deficient skeleton! Who knows what could have happened had you shadow-traveled too early? Huh?"

"It's been weeks, for your information, but perhaps you've been staring at your dad so much that you've gone blind and can't even look at a calendar! I don't need protecting. If I can survive Greek Hell alone, then I'm sure I can take care of myself just fine."

"You weren't taking care of yourself when I found you on Half-blood Hill ready to become one with the shadows!" It was at that moment Jason walked into the room followed by a reluctant Percy, but the fighting couple ignored them for the time being. "You're so stubborn, so dense that you can't even see that. Besides, you don't need to take care of yourself when your friends and I are here. We love you, but you still think you're a burden when you're anything but! I just wish you'd realize that."

"Oh? So I wasn't a burden when I made you get stuck in the infirmary and you couldn't help anyone else? Anyway, it's just a shopping trip! I can do what I want, Will. So what if I take Percy to Walmart? What, are you jealous or something?"

That struck a nerve. Jason and Percy were watching this as if it were an intense tennis match. Will almost slapped Nico, but thought better of it and didn't raise his hand. He hated violence and always tried to stick to pacifism. That and if he hurt Nico he knew he'd regret it instantly.

"No, I'm not jealous. Maybe you -" he poked Nico in the chest, "- can't see when you're putting yourself in danger because you're stuck under that dark brooding cloud of yours half of the time."

"What the Hecate?" Nico stepped away. "Danger? I'm in danger?" He shook his head. "You're in danger of becoming one with the shadows instead of me, Will. I know what's good for me. I'm not that dumb, you know."

"Well, maybe I want to keep you safe! Isn't that what people do for one another?!"

"There's a fine line, Will, between caring and creepy. I think you've crossed it! So just fuck off." The room turned about fifty percent darker before Nico pushed past Will to get outside. He sat down under a tree and melted into the shadows.

Will didn't know what to do. He sat in the door, leaning against the frame, and put his face in his hands. Without looking at either Percy or Jason, he mumbled, "I guess I really messed up, huh?"

...

Percy nodded. "Yeah, you screwed up, dude." Jason elbowed him.

"Seriously, Percy?"

Percy stared goofily at Jason. "And what a great help you turned out to be, bro."

As the two walked away, Jason turned and said over his shoulder, "Will, you better go and find him. He's not going to come out and say sorry on his own, you know. He's sort of like a child like that. Once he sees you he'll realize he was in the wrong too."

Despite the son of Jupiter's advice, Will didn't want to find Nico. He remembered all of his anger and didn't want to confront the younger demigod. He got up and went to the Apollo cabin to mope around and do absolutely nothing.

Nico was really mad at Will, and seeing him was the last thing he wanted. He was currently hiding in a tree in the middle of the forest and sulking. He sat up when a familiar voice called out to him. "Neeks? I still need to go to - Ow! Jason!" It was Percy.

Nico dropped out of the branch that he was sitting on and smiled crookedly. "Okay, I'll take you to Walmart. Jason, are you coming?"

He smiled, but it was leaning toward a smirk. "No, no, you guys go."

Nico huffed and rolled his eyes. "Grab onto my arm, Percy. Let's go to the store." Percy walked over to Nico and gripped his forearm. Nico and Percy disappeared into the shade and Jason was left alone in the forest.

When they emerged in front of Walmart, Percy ran over to get a cart. He was so excited it was all Nico could do but roll his eyes and follow the son of Poseidon inside

When they walked through the automatic doors that Nico still found a bit unnerving, Percy was immediately drawn to the food section. Nico rolled his eyes and pushed the cart that the son of Poseidon had abandoned. He strolled along the aisles until he saw Percy carrying bags of chips, a sauce container, and a bag of tortillas. Nico jogged over and took the sauce and chips and set them down in the cart.

"Are you done yet?" The son of Hades asked with an eyebrow raised, finding the few strangers staring at him bordering on creepy. He supposed he must have looked interesting dressed in black with what appeared to be a cane through the Mist. The fact the two of them were pretty young also might have made them suspicious and he really just wanted to get back to camp.

Percy shrugged. "That's all I needed. Hey, do you think if I pay with drachmas the cashiers will think I'm using cash?"

Nico shook his head. "Has it ever before? No, Percy. Get out your money."

"About that... I left my wallet in the Poseidon Cabin. Can you get it?" pleaded Percy.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Fine, but only because the mortals can't see through the Mist. But you're buying me McDonald's."

Nico shadow-traveled into the cabin, took the (sadly) green wallet off of Percy's bed, and leaped through the shadows back to Percy. They checked out and Nico said, "McDonald's'. Now."

As soon as Percy had paid for the McDonald's that was conveniently located in the store, the two demigods appeared in the middle of the ring of cabins in camp before going their separate ways. Nico was hurried to his cabin so Will wouldn't catch him having returned, but the moment he opened the door it appeared his plan had been a bad one. Will was already there sitting on the edge of his bed with his hands clasped and eyes staring a hole into the floor.

"Um," Will started awkwardly, "hey. Your trip went well then?"

Resting a hand on his hip, the dark-haired demigod glared at his boyfriend. "Get out."

"Nico-"

"What makes people think they can just come into my cabin when I'm not around? You don't even live here. I do. So please just get out."

Hurt appeared in Will's blue eyes, but Nico steeled himself against it. Nope, he was still angry.

"Nico, can't we talk about this? I don't want to fight anymore," begged the blonde, desparation clear in his face.

"Then you shouldn't have started it."

"I didn't start it. I was just stating my medical opinion and you exploded into metaphorical and literal darkness," Will retorted, standing up to his full height and gazing down at the shorter boy. That's when he noticed what was in his hand. "Is that a Happy Meal?" That was the wrong thing to say.

"Maybe after being put in such a foul mood I thought it'd cheer me up. It is a Happy Meal after all." A second passed as he realized what he'd just said. He facepalmed, a groan escaping him. "I meant, forget the Happy Meal! By the gods, are we going to fight over who started the fight in the first place? That's it, if you don't leave by your own accord, I will have skeletons drag you out."

Will stared at him in disbelief. Nico nodded. "I'm not kidding, so get moving. Now. I'm sick and tired of having my privacy invaded. Get out."

Will turned and frowned. He trudged out the door, Nico sighing angrily as the door shut. After sitting down on his bed the son of Hades fell back so he was staring up at the ceiling.

"Maybe the Hunters have a point when they swear off the love of men. Dating is complicated."

For the rest of the week, both Nico and Will moped in their respective cabins. Even during meals they managed to avoid each other by having Jason and Cecil get their food for them, or by sneaking around so they went when the other wasn't there. It was only on the night of the campfire that they were forced to at least be in the same general area together. Jason wasn't about to let all of the happiness he's seen since Nico and Will started dating because of one silly fight get away, and Lou Ellen had the same idea when it came to forcing Will out of his cabin.

Still, Nico stuck close to the Seven and Calypso while Will sat with his siblings and his friends.

"Trouble in Elysium?" Leo joked for the umpteenth when he noticed the way the two were sitting away from each other yet sneaking glances all the same.

The son of Hades didn't respond, but he did let his lip twitch up a bit when Leo let out a girly scream a moment later. Seriously, he'd defeated Gaea and died but he was scared of a little skeletal mouse?

Nico looked at Leo dancing around and couldn't help but snicker when the rest of their friends did. They only stopped when Nico commanded the bones to sink back into the earth. It was also the same moment the Apollo campers finished yet another camp song. Instead of leaping into another one, however, Kayla stood up so the attention was on her.

"Hey, just thought I'd ask if anyone has any song requests or wants to sing something. No more Uptown Funk though," she warned with narrowed eyes, which flickered towards Leo. Ever since he'd set himself on fire and freaked out the younger campers there was a long list of songs that involved fire that weren't allowed to be sung when he was around. The same went for Under the Sea, since Percy seemed to want to hear it at every campfire. Hero or not there were only so many times they could sing a song from My Little Mermaid.

For the next twenty minutes there were song requests from random campers, a few even joining the Apollo kids in song. It wasn't until Will grabbed the main microphone that Nico finally stopped staring into the fire and really paid attention to the center of the ampitheater.

"What is he doing?" He whispered to Jason frantically, brown eyes looking terrified. "He can't sing!"

Jason shrugged. "Well it looks like he's about to, Neeks."

"Don't call me that."

"Whatever you say, little bro."

"Don't call me that either!"

Jason flashed a grin, to which Nico was about to wipe off his face when all of a sudden the music started. A few seconds later, Will's voice joined in.

Almost everyone cringed, but after listening to the emotion in his voice the campers were very surprised. Sure he was still off key (he really needed to work on his D flat); however, he'd never sung a song quite like this before. His voice was soft and controlled unlike ever before. Nico, having only heard him sing silly pop songs and camp tunes, could only stare and listen to a song he'd heard a few times before.

 _"Dead star shine,"_ he began with his eyes shut and body lax as he stood in front of the roaring violet flames of the campfire _, "light up the sky. I'm all out of breath. My walls are closing in. Days go by, give me a sign."_ From where Nico was sitting, he could hear demigods whispering. It wasn't hard to guess who and what the son of Apollo was singing about as he casual walked closer to him with his eyes only half open. _"Come back to the end, the shepherd of the damned."_

Yep, he was definately singing about the son of Hades.

 _"I can feel you falling away."_ He looked up, revealing the blue irises Nico thought were so captivating _. "No longer the lost, no longer the same, and I can see you starting to break."_ Nico couldn't help but glower at the words. Pfft, like Tartarus he would break before the silly son of Apollo. However, as Will ended up standing in front of him the annoyed look fell off his face. _"I'll keep you alive if you show me the way. Forever, and ever, the scars will remain. I'm falling apart- leave me here forever in the dark..."_

Suddenly the microphone was being held out to him. Brown eyes filled with disbelief at the gesture- he couldn't sing in front of everyone at camp- but when he thought of the song's next lines he quickly grabbed it.

 _"Daylight dies, blackout the sky."_ The dark-haired demigod began softly, but with force behind his words. _"Does anyone care? Is anybody there? Take this life, empty inside. I'm already dead, I'll rise to fall again,"_ he sang while quickly shoving the microphone back to Will, who took with with a frown. It was obvious that was all Nico had to contribute to the song-versation.

 _"I can feel you falling away. No longer the lost, no longer the same, and I can see you starting to break. I'll keep you alive,"_ the irony of that line almost made Nico smile _, "if you show me the way. Forever, and ever, the scars will remain. I'm falling apart- leave me here forever in the dark."_

Taking a deep breath, one of Will's hands went to his heart.

 _"Gods help me I've come undone,"_ he sang softly and sadly _. "Out of the light of the sun; Gods help me I've come undone. Out of the light of the sun..."_

For a moment, Nico's mask faltered. His boyfriend (they hadn't broken up after all) was so sincere it made his heart ache.

Suddenly his voice grew louder, eyes gazing into Nico's once more _. "I can feel you falling away. No longer the lost, no longer the same, and I can see you starting to break. I'll keep you alive if you show me the way. Forever, and ever, the scars will remain..."_

 _"Give me a sign,"_ Will sang while his siblings sang the accent lyrics together as they played the music on their guitars.

 _"There's something buried in the words."_

 _"Give me a sign."_ Maybe Nico should apologize.

 _"Your tears are adding to the flood."_

 _"Just give me a sign."_ Or accept the apology Will had been trying to give him all week.

 _"There's something buried in the words."_

 _"Give me a sign."_ He didn't really enjoy fighting with the guy he'd come to really, really like-like (in elementary-schooler terms).

 _Your tears are adding to the flood."_

 _"Just give me a sign."_ But why couldn't Will understand that Nico wasn't a helpless almost-ghost anymore?

 _"There's something buried in the words."_

 _"Give me a sign."_ Will just needed to see that he didn't need to be protected. That's it.

 _"Your tears are adding to the flood."_

Nico couldn't help but sing the last line with his boyfriend under his breath. _"Forever and ever the scars will remain..."_

As soon as the song was over, Nico locked eyes with Will and melted into the shadows. A moment later the healer yelped when a flood of darkness swept him off the stage leaving dozens of confused demigods wondering what that could mean. Either they were busy making up in the Hades Cabin or Nico was murdering a camper that could barely fight.

Either way, only Jason opted to see what was going on, but that was after he realized more than ten minutes later that if they did make up Will might kiss his little brother. There was no way he was letting that son of the womanizing Apollo deflower our precious Nico like that. **(A/N BLUE I LOVE THE CHOICE OF WORDS... Deflower XD ~Falter)**

In Cabin Thirteen, Will Solace appeared shortly after the son of Hades via being spit out of the darkness gathered in the corner of the room. It took him a few seconds to shake the affects off of him, but when he did he noticed a sullen Nico di Angelo standing in the center of the room.

"Nico?" The blonde questioned tentatively.

Will had fought with him, true, but he wasn't really angry at Nico. When he looked back on it, he realized that he'd been treating Nico how everyone else treated him at one point.

"Yeah, Solace?"

Will looked at his feet, not really wanting to say anything but feeling like he had to. "Why did you bring me here?" Nico looked him dead in the eyes.

"Okay, first of all, I brought you here to ask stuff, not the other way around. So, here goes. Why did you sing that? Did you think it would make it all better?"

Will looked down sheepishly. "Well, maybe. I mean, it was kind of real. I need to know if you even want me around. I can't just forget an argument like that."

Nico glared at him. "How could you even think that?" He interrogated. " Will, I love you, a lot. Of course I want you around!" His eyes widened and so did the blonde's.

"What?" Asked Will, his voice faltering at the declaration.

It took a moment for Nico to realize what he'd just said. When he did, brown eyes widened and his face lit up crimson despite his wishes.

"I..." the son of Hades looked away, a finger twisting the ring on his finger nervously. This was definately not how he'd planned this going. "I love you, Will, and I don't want us to fight anymore."

Will's eyes softened. He stepped forward and cupped the younger demigod's chin in his hand and made Nico look at him. "I love you too, Nico." He leaned down and kissed the son of Hades passionately. Nico leaned into Will and threw his arms around the golden-haired boy's neck. They were, however, interrupted by Percy and Jason bursting into the cabin. Nico had forgotten all about them.

"Hey!" Jason protested. "You can't just... Go and kiss him like that! You're practically groping him!" Percy stood behind him, looking extremely embarrassed and offering a sheepish grin. It didn't help. Nico's face went red from humiliation and Will buried his face into his hands and groaned.

Nico snapped his fingers and two skeletons popped up out of the ground. They picked up Jason and Percy and about thirty seconds later, loud splashes could be heard, but that didn't matter because the two people who had caused it were in the Hades Cabin "making up".

Falter: Hey! This is the sequel... tell us how you liked it, and remember that bluelove22 wrote this with me. If you don't give her love I will take your books hostage. I'll do it. I'm crazy.

bluelove22: Crazy awesome~ *buh-dum tish*

Much love, Falter and blue


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